I was in Chicago last week and went to Holy Name Cathedral for Mass to celebrate the Assumption of Mary. The rector hurried through his brief homily and told us to see Mary as "saint, mentor and coach." None of these categories were adequately explained, and the idea of Mary as coach filled me with mirth, not reverence. I was thoughtful after the service; I know Cardinal and Archbishop Blaise Cupich is close to Pope Francis, and the rector of his cathedral represents the bishop on some level. If what I heard passes for serious theology - so desperately needed in modern urban America - the Catholic Church is in serious trouble.
I like how you take entirely universal experiences of beauty long predating the even theoretical existence of Jews as a particular tribal group, let alone that of a particular Galilean peasant girl living at the time of the dawn of the Roman Empire, and then arbitrarily declare that this particular peasant girl is in fact the constitutive element of those experiences. And conveniently just passing over the naked hatred Christianity has always held for the world, for the flesh, for sex and wine and beautiful things is quite nicely done as well. If it wasn't pathologically afraid of sex then "perpetual virginity" would be indicative of genetic failure, not holiness.
I enjoyed this; thank you. The listed qualities of daughters are well chosen, at least from a parent’s point of view. The etymology of the word ‘tenacity’ makes it especially apt for describing older babies and toddlers, as many a scalp can attest.
This struck me as quite a consequential aside: “embodiment only ever reflects what is going on in the soul anyway.” What do you mean by this? Does it not imply that a person’s becoming weaker or uglier reflects a weakening or deterioration of their soul? More relevantly to Mary, that virginity reflects purity of soul; non-virginity, a (perhaps permanent) impurity?
That seems to be quite different from what is suggested by your question what point there is to Mary’s virginity if not to effect a certain eminence of soul by means of her body: here it seems as though you view her body as instrumental in effecting or preserving the quality of her soul, not only as reflecting her soul. So would you qualify the clause I quoted, or do I misunderstand things?
Beautiful piece, David. It is amazing the abundance of love that pours forth from the church in songs and hymns and writings and on and on... to her who is most blessed of women
Beautiful! Thanks for this, David.
Thank you for this, David.
I loved this post. Thank you so much.
I was in Chicago last week and went to Holy Name Cathedral for Mass to celebrate the Assumption of Mary. The rector hurried through his brief homily and told us to see Mary as "saint, mentor and coach." None of these categories were adequately explained, and the idea of Mary as coach filled me with mirth, not reverence. I was thoughtful after the service; I know Cardinal and Archbishop Blaise Cupich is close to Pope Francis, and the rector of his cathedral represents the bishop on some level. If what I heard passes for serious theology - so desperately needed in modern urban America - the Catholic Church is in serious trouble.
I like how you take entirely universal experiences of beauty long predating the even theoretical existence of Jews as a particular tribal group, let alone that of a particular Galilean peasant girl living at the time of the dawn of the Roman Empire, and then arbitrarily declare that this particular peasant girl is in fact the constitutive element of those experiences. And conveniently just passing over the naked hatred Christianity has always held for the world, for the flesh, for sex and wine and beautiful things is quite nicely done as well. If it wasn't pathologically afraid of sex then "perpetual virginity" would be indicative of genetic failure, not holiness.
I enjoyed this; thank you. The listed qualities of daughters are well chosen, at least from a parent’s point of view. The etymology of the word ‘tenacity’ makes it especially apt for describing older babies and toddlers, as many a scalp can attest.
This struck me as quite a consequential aside: “embodiment only ever reflects what is going on in the soul anyway.” What do you mean by this? Does it not imply that a person’s becoming weaker or uglier reflects a weakening or deterioration of their soul? More relevantly to Mary, that virginity reflects purity of soul; non-virginity, a (perhaps permanent) impurity?
That seems to be quite different from what is suggested by your question what point there is to Mary’s virginity if not to effect a certain eminence of soul by means of her body: here it seems as though you view her body as instrumental in effecting or preserving the quality of her soul, not only as reflecting her soul. So would you qualify the clause I quoted, or do I misunderstand things?
Beautiful piece, David. It is amazing the abundance of love that pours forth from the church in songs and hymns and writings and on and on... to her who is most blessed of women